Assessment of the relief-forming effect of the Antipayuta gas emission crater formation using satellite stereo pairs

Abstract

The paper deals with the analysis of the relief preceding the appearance of gas emission Antipayuta crater on the Gydan Peninsula and topography change due to the crater formation. Digital elevation models were created based on processing very-high spatial resolution stereo pairs both before and after the formation of the Antipayuta crater to characterize the relief. Morphometric characteristics of the landforms in the study area were obtained with a relative accuracy of 0.35-0.55 m. It is established that the crater is confined to the upper edge of the slope of the erosion hollow cut in a terrace-like surface 30-50 m high. The formation of the Antipayuta crater was preceded by the existence of a mound about 2 m in height, with a base diameter of about 20 m. The dimensions of the mound, as well as the initial diameter of the cylindrical part of the Antipayuta crater are smaller than that of the previously studied landform in Central Yamal. For the Antipayuta crater, the absence of the accumulative bodies expressed in relief (more than 1 m high) formed of the ejected material fixed on the Digital Elevation Model, also distinguishes this landform from the Yamal crater. The data obtained showed that the search for the mounds-predecessors of the gas emission craters cannot be based on the mound dimensions because of their considerable variations.